21st May 2019 - Andrew

We wake up both feeling a bit rough and very slowly get it together - I wash some clothes in a basin while C sleeps some more. We have a bit of food by the pool overlooking the amazing view. After an 11am Campari and orange we decided to go wine farming - nearby is the famous Domaine Sigalis from which we have already tasted some fine wine. Sigalis lets you taste 12 wines in their vineyards - the wines are almost wild - never watered and grown using organic techniques. The vineyard is a bit wild with vines growing chaotically and lavender and weeds here and there.

On Santorini the vines are pruned into low wide discs to protect the fruit and buds from the high winds. They serve food along with the tastings - we order the fish ceviche (excellent) and then hot chick peas with eel (brilliant).

We generally liked the wines here, memorably:

  • Very clean, light white with an amazing mineral taste - also salty in the aftertaste.
  • Various Assytiko (a unique Santorini Cultivar) - unwooded but clean with great floral smells.
  • Super aged dessert wine made with sun-dried grapes and aged to a deep amber colour.

Then forward to another modern wine farm above the port. This farm, Vinto Santa, is built against the cliffs and cut into the rock face. We sit on their spectacular balcony and taste wine with a great meat and cheese platter. The wine are nice but not notable.

21st May 2019 - Cara

Next morning Andrew drags me to a wine tasting despite my petulance. Halfway through I revive and become more human. Domaine Sigalis is the premier winery on the island. Very impressive but casual and chilled much like all of greece. Lovely Greek hospitality and friendliness - cute waiters. When we order the food the waiter tells us how to pair the various wines. Beautifully done.

Assyrtiko is the main local white which is spectacular and quite minerally tasting. Possibly my favourite white ever. Santorini wine making goes back to 3000BC - so much for SA wine history. They also do Athini. They have a seven village’s tasting where you taste a single vineyard Assyrtiko from seven villages. Would have loved to do that - next time.

They also have experimental wines. My favourite, which we buy, is quite salty tasting. Also slightly aged whites where the grapes are sun-dried, not fortified but amazing body and flavour. This Nychter is too pricey to buy.

They do food and wine pairing very well here on Santorini. At Venetsantos (also recommended by Polydolos) there is a magnificent view of the caldera - we see Fira and Oia. They built this winery from the top down - to use gravity to press etc grapes and deliver to the port below. White lime has been poured over the rock to stabilize it. The platter has different foods to pair with different wines: light cheese, then heavier cheese; smoked chicken and grapes; then pastrami style beef and peppers; then bright orange marmalade; then blue cheese and chilli for the vinsanto.

20th May 2019